Individual investors are placing strong bets on stocks, as retail buying is a major force in the market. Retail investors have been net buyers of stocks for 23 consecutive months, the longest period since the 2020-2022 period.
Over the past 23 months, retail investors have been net buyers of the stock. This is the longest net long run since the 2020-2023 period. Among actively growing assets, retailers are flowing into equities to offset inflation.
Like Cryptopolitan, private purchases have also expanded the meme investing trend. reported. Previously, retail achieved 32 consecutive months of purchase.
Retailers also bought ETFs for 158 consecutive days. Private buyers will also react quickly to changing conditions, driving the biggest share price gains in 2025. Changes in retail behavior have coincided with the rise of AI companies. The perfect combination of a bull market and investors favoring actively managed portfolios has created new rules for the stock market.
Have individual investors abandoned cryptocurrencies?
The shift to stock trading was one of the reasons why retail investors exited cryptocurrencies. Although BTC was considered a potential store of value, it also served as a risk-on asset. BTC and cryptocurrencies have increasingly operated as a riskier version of the NASDAQ.
As a result, some individual investors turned to the stock market. In 2025, the Nasdaq was already up 20% net, while BTC was net down 5.3% After a quick fix. The strong rise in the Nasdaq and reduced crash risk has led some investors to move from cryptocurrencies to stocks.
In the short term, BTC and NASDAQ may perform differently. In November, BTC recorded a large rally compared to the index, but it was not able to compensate for the previous losses.
At the same time, crypto trading has become a whale of origin and new inflows are limited. Even cryptocurrency natives are attempting to trade stocks via tokenized assets. rise of global middle class With more resources available, traders looked for ways to invest overseas, increasing demand for U.S. stocks.
Robinhood is also one of the centers of retail activity, and its stock trading fees have been rising over the years. 132% In the third quarter.
Individual traders are permanent
Individual retail traders are becoming a permanent presence rather than scattered players in the market. More traders are also joining the options market, betting on a bullish development in which call options outperform put options.
Individual investors emerged as bargain buyers, and major funds sold stocks. A US-based trader set a new buying record. This trend was also evident in the EU, where stock purchases increased in the third quarter. Beyond that period, 780K New investors in Europe bought shares, an increase of 18% compared to the same period in 2024.
Individual investors are also showing signs of caution and calm, even as they pile up on carefully selected stocks. Markets are currently swinging between cautious optimism and warnings about the possibility of an AI bubble forming.
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